Ichiro thanks Amy Franz, fan who invented the ‘Ichimeter,’ with gifts and a note

Anyone who has watched a Seattle Mariners home game over the past eight years may have taken note of the “Ichimeter.” The Ichimeter is a hit-counter that was invented by Mariners Amy Franz in 2004, when it was used to count Ichiro’s hits on his way to an MLB record 262 hits in a single season. Over the past several seasons, the Ichimeter has been used to count the total amount of hits Ichiro has in his MLB career.

On Tuesday, Ichiro decided to thank Franz for her loyal service in operating the Ichimeter all those years by sending her a thank you package. Franz proudly shared the goods on Twitter, which included some autographed items and the thank you note that you see below.

Fans all around the country dedicate themselves to traditions like the one Franz created in Seattle, but very few of them are ever personally thanked by a future Hall of Famer. We already knew Ichiro was capable of incredible feats like this one on the field, but it’s refreshing to see a star player who cares about making a person’s day off of it as well.